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XP for each rock
Ore xp is fixed per rock, so the numbers in the calculator are exact counts of successful swings, not estimates. Speed is where the guesswork lives: a better pickaxe rolls more often, but it does not change your chance of success on each roll. A rune pickaxe rolls every 3 ticks, a dragon pickaxe (61 Mining, 60 Attack) about every 2.83 and a crystal pickaxe about every 2.75.
| Rock | Level | XP each | Why you would mine it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copper and tin | 1 | 17.5 | Only until 15, or skip with quests |
| Iron | 15 | 35 | Fast power mining from 15 to the 60s |
| Coal | 30 | 50 | Steady seller for smithing |
| Pay-dirt (Motherlode) | 30 | 60 plus cleaning bonus | AFK, ore and nuggets |
| Sandstone | 35 | 30 to 60 by size | Pairs with Crafting via glass |
| Gem rocks | 40 | 65 | Random gems, glory needed |
| Gold | 40 | 65 | Big gains with goldsmith gauntlets in Smithing |
| Granite | 45 | 50 to 75 by size | Fastest xp with 3-tick |
| Mithril | 55 | 80 | Rarely worth it on its own |
| Adamantite | 70 | 95 | Slow respawn |
| Runite | 85 | 125 | Contested, long respawn |
| Amethyst | 92 | 240 | Slow xp, steady profit |
A quick sense of scale: from 15 to 60 on iron ore is 7,753 ores, a few hours of power mining. From 92 to 99 on amethyst is 27,155 crystals, which at 80 to 100 crystals an hour is a few hundred hours of AFK play, though every one of them has a buyer.
Motherlode Mine: what one pay-dirt is worth
Each pay-dirt vein gives 60 xp when you mine it, and cleaning it in the hopper adds a bonus based on the ore inside: 15 for coal or gold, 30 for mithril, 45 for adamantite and 75 for runite. The average bonus grows with level, about 17 xp per pay-dirt at 85 and 22 at 99. Ores unlock as you level (gold at 40, mithril at 55, adamantite at 70, runite at 85), and roughly 1 pay-dirt in 32 holds a golden nugget at any level.
Nuggets buy the things that make the mine better. The upper level costs 100 nuggets and needs 57 Mining (lowered from 72 in May 2024), the bigger sack costs 200 and raises capacity from 108 to 189 pay-dirt, and the full prospector kit costs 180. Pay-dirt counts get huge (30 to 99 is more than 200,000 before cleaning bonuses), so for ore and nugget income per hour use the Motherlode Mine calculator, which works from your level and today's ore prices.
Gem rocks: random loot, real money
Gem rocks need 40 Mining and give 65 xp per gem. The Shilo Village surface mine opens after the Shilo Village quest, the much larger underground mine needs the medium Karamja Diary, and Lunar Isle has a few more after Lunar Diplomacy. Wear a charged amulet of glory: it roughly triples your success rate, from about 18% to 53% at level 40 and 28% to 82% at 99. Mining enhancers do nothing here.
| Gem | Chance | Share of gems |
|---|---|---|
| Uncut opal | 60 in 128 | about 47% |
| Uncut jade | 30 in 128 | about 23% |
| Uncut red topaz | 15 in 128 | about 12% |
| Uncut sapphire | 9 in 128 | about 7% |
| Uncut emerald | 5 in 128 | about 4% |
| Uncut ruby | 5 in 128 | about 4% |
| Uncut diamond | 4 in 128 | about 3% |
Because the gem is random, any gp figure for a gem rock is an average across this table, not the value of a single gem. Over a few hundred rocks that average is close; over twenty it can be well off either way.
Choosing a rock by goal
For pure speed, 3-tick granite from 45 runs from about 87,000 xp an hour up to 126,000 at 99, and Volcanic Mine from 70 is the team option. For AFK, Motherlode and calcified rocks in Cam Torum (41 Mining, Perilous Moons started) ask very little of you. For money, amethyst, gem rocks and runite lead, and amethyst also feeds Fletching for darts, arrows and bolt tips. The Mining training guide lays these out band by band.